Pots of gold

This was the eighth St Patrick's Day Ball, and this year set a new record for funds raised, with participants digging deep into their elegantly tailored pockets to stump up more than zł.400,000 for worthy causes.

Eamonn Crowley from Bank Zachodni WBK was at the helm of the event as master of ceremonies, with several hundred guests and companies paying zł.6,000 for a table at one of the top expat events of the year.

A large part of the cash came from the night's main event, the charity auction. The president of Grafton Recruitment, Seamus Pentony, wielded the gavel with gusto and knocked down a number of valuable lots, including a Jerzy Dudek Liverpool jersey signed by last year's European Champions, tickets to the All-Ireland Hurling final, and a generous stash of one of Ireland's greatest treasures - Tayto cheese-and-onion crisps. However, it was the final lot of the night that really got the big guns blazing, with a complete package for the 36th Ryder Cup golf tournament in the K Club in Ireland fetching zł.100,000.

To date the event has raised more than zł.850,000 for charity and this year's funds will be distributed throughout the year. Among the beneficiaries will be: the Anna Dymna Mimo Wszystko (In Spite of Everything) Foundation; the Talizman Foundation; Instytut Głuchoniemych im. Jakuba Falkowskiego (Institute for Deaf Children, Warsaw); Fundacja Dziecięca Fantazja (Children's Fantasy Foundation) and St Patrick's Hospice, in Otwock.